Humane Society forced to cut back

Facing a severe reduction in donations and fewer people adopting animals, the Humane Society of Highlands County will be reducing the number of dogs and cats in its care and also cutting its hours.

Humane Society Board President Barbara Clark said, "We have puppies and we have small dogs and normally they move very quickly. People are looking for these, and they are not moving at all so we do have a serious problem here."

Donations are down 71 percent this year compared to the same date last year.

The slow economy has been impacting the Humane Society for about a year and a half, but there was hope that things would improve, she said.

"But this year it has gotten so bad we need to reach out to the community and say, 'hey we are here for you; we exist because you donate; we need you to step up or we won't be here,'" she said.

The Humane Society is a non-profit, no-kill shelter, which is funded solely on donations from individuals and businesses in Highlands County.

Most of the businesses are hurting so they have stopped donating, Clark said, and a lot of people are suffering being out of work and losing their homes so they have stopped donating.

"A lot of people are bringing us food," she said. "We are asking people in lieu of food, because we have a surplus of food, to please make a monetary donation."

The facility has four full-time and two part-time staff members.

The shelter cannot be operated with volunteers because they don't come every day, Clark said. You can't get a volunteer to come out at 8 a.m. and clean dog kennels every day in 100-degree weather.

Until donations improve, the facility will cut the number of days it is open to the public and reduce the number of dogs and cats it houses by severely limiting the number of animals it accepts.

"Our biggest opportunity to save money would be through reducing labor and caring for the animals," Clark said. "As we adopt out larger dogs, we are not going to replace them.

"So we are not going to be able to accept a lot of animals over the next few months."

Currently 62 dogs are awaiting adoption, but the goal is to cut the facility's population in half until the situation improves, she said. Also, as cats are adopted out, only a few will be accepted, but not to the extent previously.

"We have a waiting list of 30 families who want to turn in litters of kittens," Clark said.

Also, there are waiting lists with people wanting to turn in about 40 to 45 adult cats and 50 adult dogs.

"We are a no-kill shelter so people wait for us to have space," she said. Some people have been waiting as long as January.

If there were more responsible pet owners who spayed or neutered their animals, the Humane Society wouldn't be in the position it is right now, Clark noted.

The Humane Society's hours of operation will be cut back starting July 5 to 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The facility will be closed to the public on the other days.

Donations can be sent to the Humane Society, 7321, Haywood Taylor Blvd., Sebring, FL 33876 or you can call 655-1522. Credit cards are accepted. All donations are tax deductable.